The Bond is Never Broken
by piper jnr
Summary: Prue, Piper and Phoebe grow up living in Australia. They were adopted but grow into their current lives, pretty good if I may say so :)


~*~The Bond is Never Broken~*~  
By Breezy  
  
Prue is 15, in Year 9. Piper is 13, in Year 7. Phoebe is 11, in Year 5. The story pretty much explains their background and all. Just in case you think the words are weird, or the sentences don't make any sense, they are mean to be like that because it's set in Australia, and we tend to do things slightly different. Not the major stuff, the little stuff and all. Plus this story is kinda mixed in with my personal experiences. Piper and Prue experience what I sort of went through. The 'camp' is actually real, and it was awesome. Hope you enjoy it all, and please reply. By the way, I don't own any of the characters, besides Bri (hint, she is me), although my mum would beg to differ.  
  
The scene was set. A mild summer day, late January in Melbourne. It was ten past eight in the morning of Piper's first day at MLC (Methodist Ladies' College). Piper started her journey along with at least another 180 girls or so, on their first day of Year 7 at a new school.  
  
As she got out of the car with her older sister, Prue, she looked at the building in front of her.  
  
"What's that?" Piper asked Prue.  
  
"That, my dear sis, is the Music School." Prue answered putting an arm around Piper's shoulders. Prue was so excited that Piper would finally join her at high school. Prue knew that Piper was dying to get started, yet, she also knew that Piper was sad about leaving Phoebe at Primary School.  
  
"Thanks for the lift, mom." Prue thanked their mother.  
  
"Yeah, thanks. I didn't want to tram on my first day" Piper gratefully thanked her too.  
  
Piper watched as their mum drove around the parked cars and out of the Chapel Car Park into peak hour traffic to get to work. Piper felt reluctant. Reluctant to grow up so quickly, yet, so egger to join Prue's life.  
  
"C'mon, I better get you to your form group before the bell goes." Prue gently pulled her sister out of a daze and towards the towering steps that led to the Wood Building, where the Year 7's were situated.  
  
Arriving at Piper's classroom Prue stopped outside. Pulling Piper over to the side away from girls going in.  
  
"At recess I will meet you here. We'll go down to the tuckshop and get something to eat and I will show you were my locker is in case you ever need me. Okay?" Prue told her little sister and pulled her into a hug.  
  
"Good luck. And don't forget I love you!" Prue whispered into Piper's ear.  
  
"Thanks Prue. I love you too." Piper replied to her sister's kindliness, fighting back tears.  
  
"I better go and find out where my class is. Bye." Prue said before she turned and left the building.  
  
"Bye." Piper whispered to her sisters back. Piper walked into the room where a teacher was already standing and took a seat towards the back next to a brunette.  
  
"Good Morning girls. Welcome to Year 7, and to MLC for the new girls. My name is Mrs James and I am going to be your Form teacher for this year. We'll take the roll first and then start on a few games to get to know each other." Mrs James started off the year.  
  
"Jayne Ainger?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Brianna Basham?"  
  
"Yeah" The girl next to Piper answered.  
  
"Mariana Crvenkovic?"  
  
"Yes" A girl up the front answered as if she had a very bad cold. She was deaf.  
  
"Maree De Pellegrin?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Amy Dixon?"  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"Rachel French?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Anusha Galbally?"  
  
"Can you please call me Nush?"  
  
"Kate Gilligan?"  
  
"Yo"  
  
"Victoria Heaton?"  
  
"It's Tori"  
  
"Piper Halliwell?"  
  
"Yeah" Piper answered in an American accent. All eyes fell on her. Piper felt embarrassed. No one else here had an American accent, only funny Australian ones. Will I ever get used to these accents? Piper thought to herself.  
  
Mrs James went through the rest of the roll before introducing their first "game".  
  
"Grab a partner and take in turns talking about you and your family etc., then as a class we will listen to what each partner can remember. You have 15 minutes."  
  
"Hi, I'm Brianna or Bri. Can I be your partner.?" The girl next to Piper asked.  
  
"It's Piper and yes" Piper answered Brianna's question, "You go first."  
  
"Okay. Well my name's Brianna Basham. I am 12 in 5 days. I have 4 brothers and a sister. I live in East Melbourne. I love running, netball, computers, friends and hanging out with friends. I was in the Junior School since Year 5. Um, oh, I used to live in the country. I think that's about it." Brianna told her story, "Please call me Bri, but not around my mum, she thinks it's tacky."  
  
"You really have six kids in your family?" Piper asked shocked.  
  
"Yeah. I'm the youngest." Bri answered  
  
"Wow. Oh, I'm Piper Halliwell. I am 12, turning 13 this year. I have 2 sisters, Prue and Phoebe. I live in Richmond with my parents who adopted my sisters and I when we were little. Our mom died when giving birth to our younger sister, my dad left my mom before she knew she was pregnant and our grandmother couldn't look after us. We lived in San Francisco at the time, but moved to Melbourne when we were adopted. My accent still won't go but I like it, so it doesn't matter. I went to Hawthorn West Primary. My sister Phoebe is there in Year 5. Prue is in Year 9 this year and she is going to Marshmead next term. I love reading, horse riding, hanging out with friends and having slumber parties in my sister's rooms. That's all!" Piper blurted out her life story to her new friend.  
  
Bri sat there stunned. She had tears in her eyes. How could she go through so much and not even be 13 yet? Bri wanted to say.  
  
"Oh, my god!" Bri slowly said. She reached over and hugged Piper, her new friend. Piper was shocked by her reaction.  
  
"On Saturday do you wanna come over to my house and play the Nintendo?" Bri asked.  
  
"I would love to, but Saturday my sisters and I spend the day together Prue takes us into the city to see a movie and then out to McDonalds." Piper's heart sank. Her new friend invited her over and she couldn't go.  
  
"How about Sunday?" Bri gave it a second go.  
  
"I think that will be okay. Can I get your phone number and call you?" Piper brightened up. Bri scribbled her number down on a piece of notepad, ripped it off and gave it to Piper.  
  
"Okay class, who wants to go first?" Mrs James asked. As soon and the words had left her mouth Bri's hand shot up.  
  
"Okay. Introduce yourself and your partner." Mrs James told Bri.  
  
"Okay. Well I'm Brianna and this is Piper Halliwell. I warn you first, it's a sad story. Well Piper is the middle sister of Prue and Phoebe." Bri relays Piper's story to the rest of the class. By the end a few people had tears in their eyes and Mrs James had a few rolling down her checks.  
  
The game took up the rest of 1st period and most of 2nd. Mrs James handed out their locker numbers and timetables just before the bell went, signalling recess.  
  
Putting their bags into their lockers, Bri and Piper went back to their classroom to meet Prue. Going down to the tuckshop Piper introduced Bri to Prue. Soon they were laughing at jokes and stories.  
  
~*~  
  
As the first term went by Piper and Bri soon became best friends. Occasionally Bri would join the three sisters on their 'Sister Saturday'. During the Easter holidays Prue spent a lot of time with her sisters, earning money at a bakery, buying clothes and outdoor gear, lollies, and packing her bags before she went off to Marshmead.  
  
Marshmead was an eight-week get-away that the Year 9 girls went on. It was up in the green country near the boarder of Victoria and New South Wales. The girls lived in houses of 6 to 8. There were 9 houses altogether. They cooked and cleaned themselves whilst going on hikes, canoeing trips, some schooling activity, farm chores and community 'functions'. Their family visited for a weekend in the middle. There were no televisions, telephones, leaving the farm (except for doctor visits and expeditions), walkmans, hair dryers and especially no lollies.  
  
It was going to be a tough time but Prue was looking forward to it. The only let down was it took about 1 to 2 weeks to receive a letter from her sisters. Prue had never been away from Piper and Phoebe for so long.  
  
A week before Prue left, Piper and Phoebe put together their money to buy Prue a teddy, hot water bottle, photo frame with a picture of the three inside, a few hidden lollies, music tape, stamps, writing paper, and black and white film. The presents were put together with recipes and long letters written backwards, up side down, in codes and spirals, in a post box and posted off for Prue to receive on her first mail day.  
  
On the night before Prue left, Prue, Piper and Phoebe had a slumber party in Prue's room. They played games, watched movies, ate all the lollies they could find at their supermarket and told stories and jokes. It was a night to remember for the 3, as it was their last night together for 4 weeks.  
  
Finally falling asleep after midnight the girls were exhausted. They were awoken a few hours later by Prue's alarm. It was 5 am on the Wednesday morning. They slowly rose and went to take their showers before getting dressed and heading downstairs for breakfast.  
  
Helen and Paul -their parents- were already up, dressed and cooking breakfast for the 3. Serving each with Pancakes, syrup, ice-cream, strawberries and an orange juice they watched the girls eat while questioning Prue about her packed belongings.  
  
"Did you pack your towels, pillows, doona, sheets, hand towel?" Helen double-checked with Prue.  
  
"Mom, I already told you that I have gone over the list 3 times!" Prue finally silenced her mum over the matter.  
  
"Well my brekkie is finished. I'll load your things into the car Prue." Paul said as he left the kitchen to get Prue's belongings.  
  
Once the girls had finished their breakfast, brushed their teeth and loaded into the car, they were off to the Chapel Car Park. The 10, normally 15 minute drive was in silence. Each of the 5 were thinking about the next 2 months.  
  
As they pulled into the Car Park, they noticed that the 2 buses were already there and everyone was loading their bags, computers and instruments into crates or the truck.  
  
"Wow! How many bags are there?" Phoebe wondered out loud, amazed by the sight in front of her.  
  
"I'll put my laptop into the crate, hand in my medication and get marked off the roll. Dad could you please put my bags into the truck?" Prue asked.  
  
"Yeah sure. Piper, Phoebe can you please help me?" Paul asked before getting out of the car.  
  
"Coming!" Piper and Phoebe chorused following Paul.  
  
Once the family had done what they needed they gathered off to the side away from everyone else. It was time to say goodbye.  
  
Prue went to hug and kiss Helen and Paul.  
  
"I promise to write to you at least once a week. I'll miss you." Prue told her mum and dad.  
  
"We love you too. Don't worry we will send you faxes and parcels." Helen whispered.  
  
"Bye Prue, have fun!" Paul whispered to his oldest daughter.  
  
Prue released the hug and went to hug Phoebe.  
  
"Hey Pheebs, I'll write everyday before I go to bed. Have fun at school and don't get into too much trouble. I'll miss you heaps and heaps. Make sure you take care of Piper for me. I love you honey." Prue whispered to her littlest sister through tears. Phoebe hugged her tighter.  
  
"I love you too. Don't worry; I'll look after Piper. Bye Prue." Phoebe reassured her sister.  
  
After a few minutes Phoebe reluctantly let go of her sister so she could go to Piper. Prue took the already balling Piper into her arms.  
  
"Hey ssh, sweetie. Why are you crying?" Prue joked to her sister. Piper smiled through her tears.  
  
"Because you are leaving me!" Piper replied.  
  
"Just think, it's only 4 weeks until I next see you." Prue tried to sheer her up.  
  
"But that's ages!" Piper protested.  
  
"Just think of it as 4 'Dawson's Creek' episodes that you are going to tape for me, then I get to see you for a weekend, then another 4 'Dawson's' that you are again going to tape for me!" Prue tried to cheer her sister up. Piper started laughing but never stopped crying.  
  
"Prue!" Piper said hitting her sister.  
  
"Just remember I will miss you heaps times infinity, I love you, I'll write everyday, you are going to still take Phoebe out for 'Sister Saturday'. And also take care of Phoebe for me because you get a taste of being a big sister for 2 months." Prue pointed out. Piper pulled Prue closer before she had to leave.  
  
"Bye sis. I love you. And don't worry, I will make an excellent big sister!" Piper said before letting go.  
  
"Bye!" Prue said whipping her tears, blowing a kiss to her family and turning to find her bus partner.  
  
As Piper stood there with her arm around Phoebe's shoulders she watched the busses start to pull out of the Car Park. She saw Prue sitting towards the front of the second bus crying as she waved to her 2 little sisters. Piper waved back hoping that the eight weeks would pass by quickly and her Prue would be home having a slumber party in her room passing out from too much sugar.  
  
~*~  
  
Two weeks slowly passed by before Piper and Phoebe received their first letter from Prue. They had just come home from school and ran to check the mail. A new ritual that had started a week ago.  
  
Phoebe and Piper ran upstairs into Prue's room, jumped on her bed ready for Piper to begin reading the letter.  
  
Dear my sweet little sisters,  
  
I knew you two were up to something on the holidays but I didn't know what. The package was a huge surprise. Thanks so much. The lollies I have hidden in my middle drawer. Your photo sits on my bedside table that I have decorated.  
  
I miss you guys so much. My house hasn't had any fights yet but we still have seven weeks left to do that. I am sharing a room with Julia. We stay up late every night talking about stuff.  
  
It is so funny. Once the teachers have gone to bed after gate duty (locking the top gate and checking all the houses), all eight of us head into one of the back bedrooms to eat lollies and watch VCD's on someone's computer, using my speaker I brought down. We watch it in the back rooms so the teachers can't see the light from the screen and hear the sound. We get up to so much trouble without getting caught. Phoebe you will love it up here.  
  
I have to go soon because I have to fed Emmi, our potty calf. We have to feed her twice a day. She is so cute. Then I have to go up to the MWC (main building) to get vegies for dinner. I am cooking stir-fry tonight. I hope it turns out all right.  
  
I'll write again tomorrow. Bye guys. I love you and miss you heaps.  
  
Love Prue  
  
Ps. I will send the letters addressed to both of you so you can cry together in my room. I know you guys are there reading this on my bed. As long as it is clean when I get home I don't mind.  
  
Piper and Phoebe were hugging each other in tears.  
  
"Well she's having fun" Phoebe said bluntly.  
  
"Who cares, I can look after us!" Piper agreed.  
  
"I just miss her so much!" Phoebe confessed.  
  
"Don't worry, only 2 weeks until we see her!" Piper tried to cheer up her little sister.  
  
Once Phoebe and Piper calmed down they decided to write back to Prue. Piper took up residence at her desk, whilst Phoebe stole the bed. One hour and 3 pages later the girls had finished. After decorating the envelope, letter and addressing it to the nickname they called Prue, they went down to the corner to post their letters.  
  
As the next 2 weeks dragged on Piper found herself getting closer to Phoebe and Bri. They hung out together at the weekends, spent time on the Internet talking, on the phone doing homework and hanging out at lunchtimes.  
  
Phoebe loved being with Piper and Bri. She wrote to Prue every second day, summing up the recent events and news.  
  
Prue progressed during her time at Marshmead. She was even more independent than before. She discovered some great recipes for dinner and snacks, learnt how to design an energy efficient house, herd cattle and sheep, weigh calves and doing various other farming activities.  
  
~*~  
  
Finally the day came when it was time for Helen, Paul, Piper and Phoebe to pack their bags into the car and start the 9 hour drive to Mallacoota. It was a mild Thursday with grey skies as far as the eye could see. Piper and Phoebe had gotten Thursday, Friday and Monday off from school so they could check out the place where they were staying and rest before they saw Prue.  
  
"Girls, why do you have so many bags?" Paul questioned his daughters when packing the bags into the car.  
  
"Um, no reason!" Piper mischievously replied. Something was going on between Phoebe and Piper, but just what Paul wondered.  
  
They were staying at a little place in Gypsy Point, about a 15 minute drive from Mallacoota. Piper and Phoebe had a room to themselves, Prue was going to join them when she arrived and Helen and Paul were about 3 doors down the hall.  
  
"I can't wait to pick up Prue!" Phoebe exclaimed jumping on the double bed in their room.  
  
"Did you bring everything?" Piper asked Phoebe.  
  
"Yeah I think so. Dad better not find out or he will kill us!" Phoebe pointed out.  
  
"Don't worry he won't. I hope." Piper replied uncertainly.  
  
"Well I'm going to bed so I can actually get up on time tomorrow. I can't wait to see Prue!" Phoebe said before getting into bed.  
  
"Yeah I might too. Night Pheebs." Piper said turning off the light and getting into bed.  
  
"Night Pipe." Phoebe replied.  
  
The next morning Phoebe and Piper woke to a knocking at their door.  
  
"Girls rise and shine. It's seven o'clock. We're leaving in an hour and breakfast has already started. Your mother and I will be down in the dinning room waiting for you two to get up and head down." Paul's voice was heard through the door.  
  
"Morning dad!" "Hey Dad!" Piper and Phoebe answered to the knocking.  
  
"Hurry and get dressed girls." Paul told the two.  
  
Phoebe and Piper slowly got out of bed, had a quick shower each, got dressed and headed down to the dinning room for breakfast.  
  
"Guess what?!" Phoebe asked Piper on the way down.  
  
"What?" Piper responded.  
  
"We get to see Prue today!" Phoebe replied jumping down the boardwalk.  
  
"I can't wait! Four weeks has been way too long!" Piper also joined in with the enthusiasm.  
  
Arriving at the dinning room door Piper and Phoebe spotted their parents and headed over to them sitting down in the two empty seats.  
  
"We'll leave in about forty minutes. After breakfast, go get your stuff ready, brush your teeth and we'll meet by the car at eight," Helen told the girls of the plan.  
  
"What's for breakfast?" Phoebe asked Paul.  
  
"Whatever you want. The buffet is open." Paul replied to his youngest daughter.  
  
After breakfast, the girls had brushed their teeth they piled into the car. Setting off on the forty five minute drive Piper and Phoebe became restless.  
  
"How long until we get there?" Phoebe wined.  
  
"Mom, I'm hungry!" Piper complained.  
  
"Another half an hour and how can you be hungry when you ate brekkie half an hour ago?" Helen replied to both of the complaints.  
  
The time slowly ticked by. Reaching the pick up point out on the highway Paul did a U-turn and parked on the side of the road. There were about seventy other cars already there. Phoebe and Piper jumped out of the car and ran down to where there was a crowd of families.  
  
"Susie!" Piper called to a fellow friend.  
  
"Oh, hey Piper!" Susie replied.  
  
"Do you know what time they arrive?" Piper asked  
  
"I was told at nine, so we've got about five minutes or so." Susie answered looking at her watch.  
  
"Thanks," Piper said "C'mon Pheebs, let's go get mom and dad." Piper told Phoebe and was off to retrieve their parents.  
  
The sound of 4WDs was heard coming closer. Piper and Phoebe turned around and saw about five or so 4WDs heading towards the crowd.  
  
"Prue!" Phoebe screamed and pulled Piper with her as she ran to greet Prue.  
  
Piper and Phoebe searched through the crowd for Prue but came to no avail. Finally giving up after about fifteen minutes, the two sisters took up residence on the mound of dirt that ran alongside of the road.  
  
The girls watched as families were reunited after their four week adventure. Through all the commotion going on around them they didn't notice a couple more 4WDs pull up.  
  
"Piper! Phoebe!" A voice called. The owner of the voice was trying to get through the crowd.  
  
"Do you think something happened? Like the car breaking down or something?" Phoebe questioned in her baby voice.  
  
"I hope not, but I don't know," Piper answered.  
  
"Piper! Phoebe!" The voice now a few metres away called and got the attention of Piper and Phoebe.  
  
Piper and Phoebe looked up. Shook entered the looks on their faces.  
  
"PRUE!" Both of the girls screamed as they ran to hug Prue.  
  
The girls stood together in a three way hug. No words were needed. The three were together again, united for twenty-four hours.  
  
"I missed you guys so much," Prue told her sisters.  
  
"Did you get my letters?" Phoebe asked an obvious question a younger sister would ask.  
  
"And my recipes?" Piper joined in.  
  
"Of course I got them. Why do you think that I wrote back?" Prue replied.  
  
"Guys, we should go and find mom and dad. They're probably looking for us." Piper jumped in before a fight could possibly break out between her two sisters.  
  
Silently the three walked in the direction of the car, each savouring the moments together.  
  
"Prue! Nice to see you again!" smiled Paul as he stepped forward to hug his daughter.  
  
"We were wondering where you girls had got to. Prue, we missed you so much. These two have been moping around the house waiting for this weekend to come around," Helen started  
  
"Mom!" Piper and Phoebe complained.  
  
"Well how about we all go for a picnic down in Mallacoota inlet? It'll only take about 40 to 60 minutes to get there, and we can always go to the supermarket to get some food, or even have a BBQ," Paul suggested.  
  
~*~  
  
Picking a nice grassy area overlooking the Mallacoota inlet, Paul parked the car and started unloading the picnic basket. The three girls removed the sporting equipment as Helen unpacked the rug.  
  
Lunch consisted of sausages on the barbeque, fresh salad, mud cake and soft drink. Sitting around on the picnic rug eating lunch, the family caught up on recent events and slowly got full.  
  
'Let's get a photo of you three, girls" Helen suggested.  
  
"I'll get the camera!" Phoebe called.  
  
"Where should we have it? How about infront of the trees?" Prue put forward.  
  
"I don't mind. I hate photos." Piper replied.  
  
After lunch a family traditional game of cricket was out into action on the grass. Phoebe was batting first, as she was the youngest, Prue was wicket keeper, Piper was in the out field fielding, Paul was bowling and Helen was watching from the sidelines.  
  
On the third bowl that Phoebe received she finally connected the bat with the ball and sent it flying. Piper being the fielder kept her eyes on the ball as it was slowly returning from space and stepped back slowly to get in range of the landing area. Piper lost her footing at the top of the cliff and scrapped her arms and legs going down.  
  
"Piper!" Helen frantically called.  
  
As Piper fell down she screamed for help.  
  
A man ran out of the trees and over to the cliff. He reached down and grabbed Piper before she became out of reach. The man slowly pulled Piper back up and placed her on the ground.  
  
"There you are little one," the man tried to comfort Piper.  
  
Piper looked into the man's eyes and felt warm all over.  
  
"Thanks," Piper stuttered to her rescuer.  
  
"It's my pleasure. If that cliff weren't there I bet you would have caught your sister out," the man replied.  
  
Paul, Helen, Prue and Phoebe ran over to Piper and the stranger.  
  
"Piper are you alright?" Helen asked her daughter.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Piper replied.  
  
"Thankyou Sir," Paul thanked the stranger and shook his hand.  
  
"Don't worry about it. I don't know what would've happened if Piper wasn't caught. I mean, umm, you would have lost your daughter," The stranger replied nearly giving himself away, "Well I best be off."  
  
The man started away from the group towards the trees.  
  
"Bye and thanks again!" Piper called after him.  
  
"Are you sure you're alright Piper?" Helen tried again.  
  
"Mom all I did was scrape my legs and arms," Piper quietened her mum.  
  
"All you did! You should have seen you flying!" Phoebe broke out.  
  
"Phoebe! That's enough! Now run back to the car and fetch the First Aid Kit," Prue commanded.  
  
Phoebe sulked off to the car when out of the corner of her eyes she saw something in the trees. Looking at the trees Phoebe saw nothing but trees.  
  
"I'm sure there was just something there" Phoebe wondered to herself.  
  
Once Piper was fixed up, the troupe packed up their things and drove back to the lodge.  
  
"Now girls, remember we have to be back at the inlet at 8 in the morning to get the ferry to Marshmead. Don't stay up to late," Helen told the three just before they pulled into the car park at the lodge.  
  
"We won't!" Phoebe and Piper grinned in reply.  
  
The girls jumped out of the car and headed towards their room while Helen and Paul unpacked the car and headed to the open fire in the lounge room to read.  
  
"That was so freaky today Piper!" Phoebe blurted out.  
  
"Phoebe! I can't believe you just said that!" Prue scolded.  
  
"Well it was," Phoebe said as she stuck out her tongue at Prue.  
  
"Well I would probably say the same Pheebs, but you know, I was the one who fell," Piper sided with the youngest.  
  
"And who was that guy? Where did he come from? Well I am going to call him 'Cliff Man'. You know, I thought I saw something in the trees when I went to get the First Aid Kit, but I don't know," Phoebe put forward.  
  
"Yeah I dunno, and that was probably your imagination," Piper replied to the ever curious Phoebe. Prue seemed to remember something. It seemed like it was from a previous life or a lot earlier in this one.  
  
"Hm, well let's not waste away the night and have some fun!" Prue joined reality.  
  
"You should see what we brought up! Dad nearly found out and him and Mom will get so cross if they do!" Phoebe told Prue and her and Piper started giggling.  
  
"I can't wait!" Prue joined in the snickering and giggling.  
  
~*~  
  
Forty-three year old Piper sat on her bed gazing down at a photo. There were hundreds of photos on her bed, all of the years leading up to Prue's death. 'Everybody hurts' was playing on 'The Corrs' weekend marathon on the radio. Tears had rolled down her cheeks and were semi dried. The photo in her hand was of Prue, Phoebe and herself as teenagers. It was taken on the weekend her adoptive parents, Phoebe and herself went up to Mallacoota to visit Prue.  
  
"If I didn't have photos I don't know what I would do." Piper reminisced.  
  
Prue had passed away just over thirteen years ago. A demon named Shax was sent to kill the Charmed Ones, but instead he failed and only broke the Power of Three link.  
  
The three sisters were witches. They were born witches, but their Grams had bound their powers until they were reunited in the Halliwell Manor back in San Francisco. They were the most powerful witches yet to come, with demons constantly after them. In the line of duty one was lost.  
  
Piper picked up another photo. This one of Phoebe, Paige and herself; the new Power of Three.  
  
Paige was her half-sister. Daughter of Piper's mother and her mother's whitelighter, Sam. This made Paige half witch and half whitelighter.  
  
"Prue, why did you have to leave us? You know I suck at being the big sister." Piper thought out loud.  
  
"Mom!" A teenager's voice was heard outside of the room just before the door was opened, "Aunt Phoebe told me to come get you for lunch. What's wrong?" Piper's daughter asked before sitting herself down next to Piper.  
  
"Nothing that you should worry about Miss Pia!" Piper joked.  
  
Pia was thirteen. She had long brown hair and looked slightly like her mom. She was part witch and part whitelighter, making her a powerful being. Demons constantly tried to steal her powers, but they were no match against this powerful family.  
  
"Aunt Prue?" Pia questioned all the photos. Pia was always concerned about others, it came from her father.  
  
"You always know when it's her, don't you?" Piper replied with another question.  
  
"Come downstairs. Everyone's here for lunch. It will cheer you up." Pia tempted her mother, "You know if you don't go down there, everyone will come up here don't you?"  
  
With that Pia stood up, took her mother's hands in hers and helped her up, dragging her to the door.  
  
"Have you been training with Cole?" Piper joked.  
  
"Nope. With Dad." Pia teased.  
  
"Oy, he shouldn't be doing that kind of stuff!" Piper said unamused.  
  
"Well you know Dad." Pia taunted.  
  
"I do know him, and it's just not him." Piper pointed out.  
  
As Piper and Pia reached the bottom of the stairs they could hear various voices, children and adults alike. Turning the corner into the living room there stood the family. Leo walked over and hugged his wife.  
  
"There you are little one," Leo comforted Piper.  
  
Piper looked up at Leo and realised something.  
  
"It was you at the cliff!" Piper slowly said.  
  
"I've been watching over you since the day you were born. I'm a Guardian Angel remember," Leo ended the mystery of 'Cliff Man'.  
  
Piper and Leo hugged whilst Phoebe caught on to the mystery and informed Paige of the missing details.  
  
The story was told. A mild summer afternoon, late August in San Francisco. It was a quarter past one on the afternoon of Piper's journey of understanding the powers that be. A journey that many family members would travel on their road to over riding evil. 


End file.
